ABOUT HETTY

Before becoming one of the most visible TV news reporters in Las Vegas, Hetty Chang had been “telling stories” all her life. First to childhood friends with her father's video camera, then to her peers during high school homeroom, and later to viewers in Reno and various parts of California. Hetty turned a childhood dream into a dream job. Her hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed, earning her the 2011 Electronic Media Award for "Best Reporter," and two nominations in the same category in 2008 and 2009. She also earned three Emmy nominations for her stories on Las Vegas' hard hit foreclosure market and her reporting on public education. Hetty was also a 2004 Emmy nominee for the Los Angeles area in the arts and culture category. All these, she garnered after less than a decade in the broadcasting business. Hetty is a first generation “ABC” or American Born Chinese and she attributes much of her success to her upbringing. “I guess you can say we were raised in a typical Asian immigrant household, where we were expected to excel in school, Chinese school, piano AND chores,” said Hetty, who is fluent in Mandarin. She grew up in a home pervaded with certain principles that she still adheres to now, including persistence, discipline, "as well as the habit of taking off shoes before stepping into the house," she says.Some of Hetty's more memorable reports include her two interviews with then Senator Barack Obama, the latest of which was two weeks before he won the presidency. Another unforgettable story is the one of an 85-year old homeless veteran in Las Vegas who after 30 years was reunited with his family after they saw Hetty’s story.